Gas engine



1921 a sheets-sheet 1 J. A. EMBACH GAS ENGINE Filed July 18,

NW, 20, E923.

Nov. 20, 1923.

J. A. EMBACH GAS ENGINE 3 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed July 18, 1921 w xv w s N flu t. .a m, a 6 5 h N, F 7 4 7 m fl e H w mm Bum MN E M J m n Nov. 20, 1923.

e 7 ITE Patented Nov. 20 1923.

JoEN A. ENBACH, or

nnrnornfivrrs'zrrenN.

. ens ENGINE.

Application filed :ru1 1s To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, J OHN A. EMBAoi-r, a citizen of the United'States' of America, residing at Detroit, in 'the county of Wayne and State ofMichigan, have invented cer-' tain new and useful fImprovements'in Gas Engines, of which the following is a specification, reference being hadtherein to the accompanying drawings. i

This invention relates to a rotaryinternal combustion engine, and the primary object of my invention is to utilize the expansive force of detonated explosive mixtures for revolving tangentially disposed cylindersabout an axis eccentric relative to anannular abutment for the driven pistons within the cylinders, and by eccentrically disposing the power axis of the engine relative to the annular piston abutment, I increase the power stroke of concentric arrangement of a power "axis relative to a piston abutment. Another object of this invention is to provide a rotary internal'combustion engine wherein the cylinders revolve about an axis eccentrically disposed relati'vetopiston abutments, and provision is made for c0n-' stantly maintaining the abutments in de-' I fined relation to the rotary cylinders, sothat the piston rods of said cylindersmayfibe' maintained in a defined relation to the cy1-' inders to prevent unnecessarywear and tear on the pistons within the cylinders- A further object of this invention is ,toprovide a rotary internal combustion engine wherein explosive mixtures are con' ducted to the cylinders and burnedg'ases removed therefrom axially of the engin'e,'and' since the cylinders are driven about an axis provision is made for'safelyconducting an 1 electrical current to the spark plugs'of the cylinders. As a matter of fact, the vari-" ous controlling devices and accessories of the engine are disposed about the power axis thereof or in proximity thereto, thus permitting of the engine being compactly constructed to occupy a comparatively small space when .in use, v, Q I

A still further object of this invention is to furnish a rotary internal combustion} engine with a timer or distributor and a rotary contact member. by which" circuits may be established between a magneto and the spark plugs of the engine, with the ignition properly timed relative 'to' the intake contact member of the engine, and Fig.5 1s a'vertical cross sect onal view of the pistons, compared to intake end of-the shafts;

19 21. S'eria1 No. 425,501;

and exhaust of fueland gases to'andfrom the cylinders of the engine.

"'The 'aboveand other objects are attained by a construction that will be hereinafter described and then claimed, and reference partly in longitudinal section Fig. '2 is a plan of the engine,

Fi-g. 3 is a 'crosssectional view ofltheengine taken on the line'IIIIII of Fig. 1;

Fig. 4:? is a side elevation of a portion of the engine showing thetimer and rotary the timer taken on the line V -.-V of Fig. 2.

- In describingmy invention by aid of the 'views above referred to, I desire to point out that the same are intended as merely illustrative of an engine which I'h'ave built andtested, and I do not care to confine my invention to the exact construction or arrangement ofparts shown, other than as confined bythe appended claims.

:In' the drawings, the reference numeral I denotes suitable foundations for a horidisposed rectangular frame 2 and Zontally said frame, as at 3,

adjustably connected to are bearings ,4- and 5;

'6 denotes atubular or hollow driven power shaft journaledi'in' the bearings 4 and '5, and on oneend of the shaft is a balance or fly wheel'7, while atthe opposite end of said shaftis a fuel intake pipe 8 connected to a" conventional form of carfbureter 9. 'The pipe .8 maybe secured'to thebearing 5, as

at'10 and the end of the shaft 6 revolves about the end ofthe pipe shaft as far as a solid or partition portion 11 intermediate the ends of saidshaft.

j 12 denotes a hub fixedto the shaft 6-at the solid onpartition' portion 11 thereof and on said hub are radially disposed and equally spaced arms 13" closed ends of cylinders "said cylinders being supported by webs 15 connecting said cylinders, the arms Bend the hub12;

'16. denotes valve chambers at the sides of the cylinders 143:, and saidvalve 'ch aiml ers are a11= in aic'ominon vertical plane at the so'that the intake '8, thus permitting vfuel to enter. the hollow manifold 21 mounted about the sliaft"6'.

a stationary exhaust pipe 22 supported about the exhaust manifold 21 b chamber communicates with the cylinder from which it is supported, as shown by intake valve 24 and thelloose oam Sl6Ve I'26 I I I II meshing with a mall gear wheel 40 operfrom' the bearing 4.

I mately in} the axes dotted lines in Eig -B, and ingea'ch valve chamber is aspringpre ssed normallyjseated i a p g-Pre s d ormally seated exhaust valve 25 these valves being preferablyof outer ends of the valve stems orrodsexposed and dap e -mi es Pr e fw n t Op d ei r t adm bi e to the or permit of burned gases ex-=-- valves are yl d a .a ,o hausting from saidcylinders 26' den tes a. cam "slee e loose on' the shaft 6 and provided with three setsof cams 27 there being a -set cylinder. Engaging each the cam rollers 28 "of: rods of "cams for-each from the arms 13 and the cylinders and said rock shafts have. other cranks 38 adapted to unseat the-intake valves 24. 1 Each cylinder there for'has two valves with valve operating 'Imechanism for each valve, and-9 m set of ris adapted to actuate the valve operating mechanisn i timed relation tothe firing order ofthe engine; I I I 39-denotes a gear wheel onthe end of said gear wheel able infunison with a; gear Wheels; 40 and 41 hub rotatable on a stub gear wheel 41, the having. a common meshes with i 44 denotespistons reciprocablefin-ithe douter open ends of thejcylinder's14 and said links'su'ppo'rting the piston rods .45 appr'oXi-- of the, cylinders 14. IT he outerlen'd's of the piston; rods 45 are pivo'tally co nected; asat, 47, to ;movable "pisten O W eel byh chrt e-p fio" berbeconnec'ted by a pipe 20 to an exhaust a br a'eket 23, carried by the bearing 5, ach valve;

hem ppe ype i hf l-P e 2 -int e smellara a abutment, being assumed that the cylin- ,ders are-drivenjin' the direction of the ar- .--row showi i in Figl'll Since thefcylinde'r s are fixed relative't'o setbf cams are W I I II I I I thewshaftfi, the piston rods 45 supported v 4.30 sl d-i able in brackets 31 extending outwajrdly ,v V h cylin er ql g The rods '29 are "connected by links 32- to I bell cranks or rocker arms 33 supportedby I k I I .natd explosive mixture or I the bearing"4"and' shaftv42fsupportedk The gear. wheel'4l a gear wheel '43 fixed on the shaft. 6, and this gear' wheel is. used for" another purpose, a' wilL hereinafter 'appeaizI is {an insulator "62 disposed ieencact'm miner 63.

I I I I I pressedcont abutments or" carriages 48 "having rollers "fb' when shifting about I I abutment. By reference to Fig.1 1t W111 be noted that the stationary or fixed annular piston abutment is in eccentric relation to the shaft 6, andthis-is a l-important t feature of my invention for the reason that :there willbea longpower stroke for each -pistonf starting when acylinder is in its ilowermost position and ending when the.

same. cylinder is in its uppermost position,

such takinggplacein the" large area of the stationary abutmentyat one side of the dot and; dash line shown: in Fig. '1, while the axiallyofthe' cylinders; and the movable piston abutments or carriages 48 retained 1n a defined relation-to,thelcylinders, it is apparent Ithat thelexpansion of any det0- gases Within the cylinders 'will cause the cylinders to kick back? o rswing about the shaft 6 in a counterclockwise direction.

'53' denotes I sivelfmixture' that may beadmitted thereto whenIthe valves-24fare open, and said spark plugs have" c Inductors v 54 extending into thehollowshaftband'theii out of said "shaft o i an insulator '55 provided with concentric contact rings 56',"

I I said. insulator and its Contact, rlngsf'constitutlng a rotary contact member'wh'ich is mounted on the shaft 6 tog-oats therewith U 57 [dehotesf a"bru'shf holder mounted on preferably made of insulation material, said brush holder having brushes "58 contacting with the rings 56.

a 59 denotes aU-shap'ed, timer or-commutator bracket forming part"ofthe bearing 4 and jou"rnal'ed in said bracket 'is a stub shaft 60 ofw'a gearwheel 61' which meshes with the dri ven gear wheel 43'mounted on the shaft Qnf thef'ront face'of thegear wheel, 61

provided with radially ,.N m y gaging the" contact member 63, axially with respect to the; gear wheel '61fis1a spring he racket 59.1. This binding post I is are i ova'bly; supparced i a c111- i adapte "ftofbe 'connected by a, tinierf66 to 'or 'aniiular Aabutme'ht upp te" the ajmagln or othe -source"of 'electri'calcenconpression stroke of] the pistonstakes of the stationary I II 'rdinary spark plugs in the. valve chambers 16 for exploding any explot 'meinbei 64 mounted in a 60'f'carri'ejd,.fby. and insulated 68 denotes other binding posts, disposed about the binding post and provided with contact members 69 adapted to be successively engaged by the contact member 63.; The contact posts 68 are connected by wires 70 to the brushes 58.

It is now apparent that when the contact member 63 swings about the axis of the contact member 64: and the stub shaft 60 that said contact member will successively engage the contact member 69 and make and break circuits for the spark plugs 53-. With the gear transmission between the shaft 6 and the timer of proper ratio there will be a positive ignition system for the engine, and the gearing employed for operating the cam sleeve may be proportioned relative to the timer transmission gearing so that the valve operating mechanism will be in timed relation to the firing within the engine cylinders.

The mul-ti-cylinder engine may be used for various purposes and since the revolving cylinders are confined within the annular piston abutment, the cylinders are compactly housed and the engine may be safely used without centrifugal force causing stresses and strains that might dislodge parts of the engine.

In view of the fact that the rotary cylinders are disposed about a power shaft eccentric of the stationary piston abutment, there is a leverage action at one side of the power shaft and consequently an increase of power, and I believe that the efficiency of the engine is the result of this eccentric relation.

What I claim is:

1. A rotary internal combustion engine, comprising a power shaft, tangentially disposed cylinders carried thereby, an annu-' lar piston abutment about said cylinders, movable piston abutments in said annular piston abutment, pistons in said cylinders connected to said movable piston abutment, means extending from said power shaft at oneside of the plane of said cylinders permitting of explosive mixtures being admitted to said cylinders and burned gases exhausted therefrom and valvular mechanism operated by said power shaft at the other side of the plane of said cylinders for controlling the admission of explosive mixtures to the cylinders and the exhaust of gases therefrom.

2. A rotary internal combustion engine as in claim l and an arm supporting each cylinder relative to said power shaft, all of said arms being connected to the pistons of an adjacent cylinders for maintaining said movable-abutments in operative relation to said cylinders. I

a 8. In an internal combustion engine wherein cylinders containing reciprocable pistons are adapted to receive fuel to be detonated therein to cause power strokes of said pistons, valve mechanism associated with an ignition system to cause the fuel to be admitted to the cylinders and burned gases exhausted from said cylinders in timed relation to the firing order of said cylinders;-

means whereby the pistons may have comparatively long power strokes in said cylinders, said means comprising a power shaft about which the cylinders are tangentially disposed with the axes at; an angle of one hundred and twenty degrees relative to each other, arms radially disposed relative to said shaft supporting the closed ends of said cylinders, a movable abutment for each piston, means confining the movement of said abutments to a path in eccentric relation to said power shaft, and means connected to each arm for maintaining the piston abutment of an adjacent cylinder in an operative relation thereto.

4. In an internal combustion engine wherein cylinders containing reciprocable pistons are adapted to receive fuel to be detonated therein to cause power strokes of said pistons, a valve mechanism associated with an ignition system to cause the fuel to be admitted to the cylinders and burned gases exhausted from said cylinders in timed relation to the firing order of said cylinders; means whereby said pistons may have comparatively long power strokes and cause equally as long compression strokes, said means comprisinga power shaft, arms supporting said cylinders relative to said power shaft, a stationary annular abutment in ec centric relation to said power shaft, movable abutments supported by said stationary abutment, piston rods connecting said 'pistons to said movable abutments, and means JOHN A. EMBACH. Witnesses ANNA M. Donn, ANNA C. RAVILER. 

